I guess I am not surprised that a Northeastern News reporter completely misquoted me and the context of position in a story that ran two weeks ago, “Policy questioned: Langlie, Klotzbier disagree over RAs’ access to residents’ medical records (Sept. 17).” In fact, I waited anxiously for the online version of The News to come out so I could see exactly what I was attributed to saying. Hence, I’d like to set the record straight.
The writer wrote that I sided with interim Vice President of Student Affairs Ed Klotzbier’s position regarding whether or not resident assistants should be aware of the medical condition(s) of a resident. The truth is: I never said such a thing nor did I give any statement that necessarily supported or disagreed with Klotzbier’s or Director of Residential Life M.L. Langlie’s position on the policy in question. I never gave any statement or hint that I was taking sides.
When the reporter interviewed me and asked for my opinion about whether or not resident assistants should know about a resident’s medical condition, I clearly stated that before I made any comments that I could and would speak only as a student, not as a resident assistant, because it would be inappropriate for me to comment in reference to my position. I specifically told him that he needed to make sure my employment status with the university was not taken into attribution or should be mentioned; and that if he wanted my comments, he would have to leave my employment status with the university out of it. He nodded, indicating to me he understood what I said. The reporter writes that I am a member of RA Council; something I never mentioned, confirmed or denied I was a part of whether it is true or not. I did state that I believe the university and the department have an obligation to ensure the safety and security of their residents in all regards including health. What I didn’t say was to ensure that obligation, resident assistants should know about a medical condition of a resident should one exist.
Yes, I did tell the reporter that I once had a condition called aplastic anemia and that if something happened, I would want someone to know but that I wouldn’t necessarily know how I’d feel about disclosing such personal information to someone I didn’t know.
I did not say that the issue of medical information being released to resident assistants was “political.” I specifically remember saying that my answer to his questions sounded like that of a politician because politicians never give a direct answer. Politicians always go around the issue and give broad answers and that is what I joked about doing.
The issue of whether or not RAs should know about a resident’s medical condition is not up for public debate because not everyone is going to agree on the issue. This is an issue for the Department of Residential Life and the university to handle to make sure they do what is best for us as students above all else. Ultimately, that is what the department did according to an article that ran in The News last week.
As a student, I am comforted in knowing that there are procedures in place here at school and within the residence halls to help those who may need medical attention. When someone is in need of some serious medical attention, some NU police officers aren’t just police officers, they are trained emergency medical technicians too. In the case of Abby Carter, I’m sure they did their very best to help her and I think that counts. The same goes with the residence hall staff in the building in which Abby lived in.
I would hope that with such sensitive subjects as this, a reporter from The News would take the time to sit down and talk with someone from all sides instead getting a quick quote as he did with me. I made the mistake in even thinking I could comment on this without there being some mistake. Although the byline is somewhat confusing, it appears to me that the individual who interviewed me was not the same person who wrote the story, which contributed to me being misquoted and falls short of delivering a quality story. The ABCs of journalism are accuracy, brevity and clarity. Being misquoted in this article fell far from the whole alphabet.
-Landon Hundley is a middler journalism major.
